Key Takeaways:
- 3 new solutions available from AT&T will focus on school safety, cybersecurity and connected school buses.
- These offers will allow school districts in New Mexico to choose unique connectivity options, that will create a safer learning environment for urban, rural and tribal students.
What’s the news? Cooperative Educational Services (CES), a purchasing cooperative for public schools in New Mexico, has chosen AT&T* to provide connectivity solutions for school districts across the state. Through this exclusive contract, school districts will have access to 3 different offerings that will transform education by addressing issues related to school safety, cybersecurity and long bus commutes.
The latest step in CES’s collaboration with AT&T, the new offers will enhance connectivity for all New Mexico students, while helping bridge the digital divide in rural and tribal communities. School districts will also be able to stay connected during emergencies with FirstNet®, Built with AT&T—the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform dedicated to and purpose-built for America's first responders and the extended public safety community.
Why is this important? After witnessing the discrepancies in connectivity for students during the pandemic, CES realized the need to transform educational technology on a broader scale to meet the evolving needs of students and teachers. Districts faced concerns like long commute times for rural and tribal students and ransomware attacks, as well as nationwide issues like school safety.
What are the 3 solutions? CES turned to AT&T to address these key issues and help enhance connectivity. Through this collaboration, AT&T will provide 3 solutions to New Mexico schools at a lower negotiated rate, including:
- A new school safety solution – powered by FirstNet, Intrado and AT&T ESInet™ – that reduces emergency response times by seamlessly connecting school staff, school information systems, 9-1-1 call takers and first responders, while also simultaneously and silently alerting school personnel. School administrators can also customize their public safety communications with mission-critical FirstNet Push-to-Talk solutions to enhance their situational awareness and emergency operations. And since FirstNet users get priority, they never have to compete with commercial traffic.
- A connected school bus option for a Wi-Fi-enabled bus that will allow students commuting to and from school to stay connected on the road, while eligible school bus drivers can use FirstNet in a crisis to help ensure student safety.
- A cybersecurity agreement that will provide customized solutions and trust and verify tests for schools to prevent breaches like ransomware attacks.
School districts in New Mexico that are interested in learning more about the new offers should visit CES BlueBook - AT&T Site.
What are people saying?
“We are committed to providing New Mexico school districts with the most advanced technology solutions for students and teachers throughout our state’s diverse terrain and population,” said David Chavez, Executive Director, CES. “After working with AT&T during the pandemic to deploy hotspots to students in rural areas, we realized the need to evolve the connectivity options available. School districts in New Mexico can now customize the best solutions to better connect students, teachers, and admin, while keeping the campus safer.”
“AT&T is honored to work alongside CES to continue New Mexico’s educational transformation,” said Joe Drygas, Vice President, Public Sector, AT&T. “These specialized offers will help close the digital divide for students across the state and keep students and staff safer. Comprehensive connectivity solutions like these will enhance the learning experience and create a better schooling environment.”
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